27 November, 2007

The photo on the right shows some of the chainguards in my little collection. Since I don't have enough on my plate, I've decided that it's time to design a VO chainguard. I've been looking at various chainguards made in Taiwan and none even come close to the style of these old Dutch and French designs. Chainguards are not only essential on a city bike, but they can be a bit of industrial art.

I thought I would ask for opinions. What should the new VO chainguard look like? Should we go for an ornate design, or would a simpler model like the Lefol guard in the second or third photo be more appropriate? I've already ordered prototypes of chainguards that look like those in the third photo. We might use that style on the production city bike.

Just don't request a hammered chainguard. I did ask Honjo about making them, but with a 6 month waiting list for fenders, they don't seem very interested in a new product.In case you were wondering, the chainguards in my collection are for sale, but only with a semi-custom city bike frame.

24 comments:

nv
said...

My 2 cents...I find the Lefol chainguard infinitely more elegant than the winged/deco variety in your collection. I find that type to be in conflict with the simple, straight and thin lines of a bicycle frame. For me, it's akin to putting a Victorian wicker basket on a city bike instead of the clean, minimal and utilitarian look of a Wald basket.If I could design the chainguard for myself, I might make it a bit longer than the pictured Lefol and optimized for the radius of a small-ish front ring - say a 40 tooth (In reality, I don't need anything bigger than a 36 on any of my bikes).In any case, I say keep it simple, clean and minimal.nv

How about a semi-ornate design. A french shape but toned down with less flowery cutouts and a squarer rear end.

The Lefol appear too small and too cheap to my eye. A chain cover should cover more. Would it provide adequate protection for the pant leg? My experiences with a thin and straight chain cover on an old peugeot lead me to think that might not be the case.

Some chaincovers don't have sufficient depth to work right, meaning the bottom edge isn't sufficiently far from the chain. A Raleigh Sports chaincover is an example of one that has sufficient depth.

A chain cover with the shape of the ornate models may reduce the likelihood that a trouser leg will get sucked up as the chainring teeth move from 9 to 12 O'clock.

A long chain cover wouldn't be a bad idea, especially on a bicycle designed for a gear hub. I'd like to see a fluted stainless steel fender set and matching full length chain cover or stainless version of the chaincase for the city bike.

It seems that dress slacks are more likely to get sucked up into a chaincover than everyday trousers. You might want to keep that in mind.

I'm with james -- "semi-ornate." Wald already makes a minimalist one, that nevertheless manages to look a little Deco with its streamlined ornamentation.

I'm not sure how the economics would work (how much more expensive is extra ornamentation? what's the minimum order?), but you could probably satisfy both the minimalists and the abberant, light-in-the-loafer Art Deco Pigeon fanciers with a series of "limited edition" chainguards.

The old Wald guard has gone out of production. It was a great component for the price. We still have a few of the small ones.

I'm going to look into having holes or decorations laser cut or CNC cut into the guards. I like the idea of limited production runs of artistic chainguards, but if we did it I'd end up devoting entirely too much time to the project.

When I think 'city bike' I think 'locking it up somewhere where it could get banged by some knob trying to get his old stumpjumper into the spot next to me.' I would be less worried about how poncy the chain guard looked, and more worried about it getting banged up inadvertantly.M Burdge

Ok...I'll add a penny to make it 3 cents.......I too think a limited run would be a great idea. You can then offer a simpler design but should still make it your own with some sort of VO logo. After all VO is becoming a "brand" that Rando and other bicyclist are starting to see as quality combined with great customer service. That doesn't happen overnight and you should be proud of what you created . Keep the VO products coming! ps: any word on the VO handlebar bag yet?

Some of those, e.g., the Lefol, look like they are made to work with a front derailer. That would be a nice feature, though it is probably difficult to make a chainguard work with more than one derailer model. Whether ornate or simple, the ease and solidness of the mounting hardware will be important. "Ready to mount" would be preferable to a chainguard that requires drilling or to hardware that requires bending or significant modification to work.

Wow...Chris your chainguard collection is great! Have you looked at the pistol style chainguards made in india? It's on the french style cheap reproduction bikes. I noticed on the mariposa sight that he painted one on his daughters city bike(very nice) The CLB chainguard is a masterpeice! Please reproduce one similar.

Your chain guard collection is awesome; I'd vote for any of those. I stupidly delayed ordering a chain guard when you had some in stock and have been waiting and hoping you'd get some more. While I like the art deco ones especially, I'd like there to be a fair amount of coverage.

Justin,No drilling is a tough design assignment. I had my wifes mixte rebuilt with very subtle changes in tube angles. The one mounting hole moved almost 3/4". I supoose Chris could have two series of holes in patterns about 1/2" apart. Just a thought.